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Olympics Curling Controversy Pushes Internet Into Meme Mayhem
Sweden accused Canada’s Marc Kennedy of illegal double-touching in men's round-robin, prompting World Curling to temporarily increase umpire monitoring during the 2026 Winter Games.
- On Feb. 13, Sweden's Oskar Eriksson accused Canada's Marc Kennedy of intentionally double-touching stones during an 8-6 men's round-robin match, sparking a heated, expletive-filled exchange and a World Curling verbal warning for Kennedy.
- World Curling's rulebook explains a legal delivery requires release before the hog line, 21 feet from the centre of the tee line, and double-touching is prohibited under World Curling Rule R.5 , resulting in stone removal.
- Later in the scrum, Jahns said Kennedy explained any touch was unintentional, and SVT footage confirmed players' concerns.
- World Curling moved to increase on-ice monitoring, deploying two roaming umpires to observe all four sheets and removing stones for violations involving Rachel Homan and Bobby Lammie.
- On Sunday, World Curling reversed its default monitoring after NOCs and player pushback, keeping two umpires available only on teams' request; CEO Nolan Thiessen reported abusive emails targeting athletes' families.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Milan Cortina Olympics: What is the curling double touching controversy about?
In a round-robin game at the men’s competition on February 13, Olympic champion Sweden accused Canada of cheating by double touching stones, after which there was a heated exchange between Marc Kennedy and Oskar Eriksson.
Explainer-Olympics-What is the curling double touching controversy about?
By Aadi Nair CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 17 (Reuters) – A controversy over allegations of cheating in curling at the Winter Olympics has made headlines all over the world and plunged the sometimes obscure sport into the mainstream. Here’s what you need to know about double touching: WHAT IS DOUBLE TOUCHING? In a legal delivery, a curler must release the stone before the hog line, which lies 21 feet (6.4 m) from the centre of the tee line the …
A curling scandal rocks Olympic ice
It was an unusually tense exchange at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on Friday: Canadian curler Marc Kennedy cursed out Oskar Eriksson from the Swedish team, telling him, “You can f*** off.”The hot mic moment, streamed live to shocked curling fans, came after the 9th end, as the Canada vs. Sweden match, which Canada won 8-6, drew toward a close.The fallout challenges “the spirit of curling” and raises questions about the future of the sport…
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